At TASO we have a wide range of guided trips planned in 2025-2026, including local walks in Oxford, visits further afield, and a residential tour. We will add to the calendar below as visits are scheduled and details confirmed.
If you would like more information, do email us at tasovisits@gmail.com.
We are also always happy to receive your ideas and suggestions for future walks, visits and trips.
Please be aware that Visits Team events work differently to lectures. They are almost always ticketed, there are limited places and there is usually high demand. For these reasons, each event is initially opened only to members, then offered to those on the event’s waiting list if there are still places, and only if places remain after that are they offered to non-members. When tickets for a visit go on sale, you can book yours by pressing on “click here” in that visit’s entry in the calendar or detailed information below.
TASO Visits Team
| 2025 | ||
| September | Thu 11th, 11am Oxford | Visit: Wood Engravers exhibition, North Wall Gallery – talk and guided visit by Peter Lawrence (cost £0) |
| October | Wed 8th, 11:15 Birmingham | Visit: Two-hour guided walking tour of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter; one-hour canal boat tour; (cost £30, excluding travel and lunch). |
| November | 4th, 6th, 10th, 24th, 26th 10:30 Oxford | Walk: Oxford’s role in WWII, led by Victoria Bentata (cost £15) |
| December | Fri 5th, 2pm Oxford | Visit: Oxford Printworkers’ Co-operative annual exhibition, North Wall Gallery – talk and demonstration by Catriona Brodribb (cost £0). |
| 2026 | ||
| February | Mon 23rd, 11am Oxford | Guided tour: two East Oxford churches – St Mary & St John, and Bartlemas Chapel, led by Lizzy Rowe. To book tickets (cost £15) click here |
| February | Tues 24th, 11am Oxford | Guided tour: two East Oxford churches – St Mary & St John, and Bartlemas Chapel, led by Lizzy Rowe. To book tickets (cost £15) click here |
| February | Wed 25th, 11am Oxford | Guided tour: two East Oxford churches – St Mary & St John, and Bartlemas Chapel, led by Lizzy Rowe. To book tickets (cost £15) click here |
| March | Mon 2nd – Tues 10th Sicily | Organised tour: Sicilian Splendours. This tour is now fully booked. |
| March | Wed 25th Swindon | Visit: All-day coach trip to Lydiard Park. (Cost £50, excluding lunch). To book tickets (cost £50, excluding lunch) click here (from 10:00 on Mon 9th Feb) |
| May | Tues 19th, 2pm Heyford | Visit: Guided tour of Rousham House and visit to William Kent gardens (self-drive). Two groups can be shown round at the same time, starting at different places in the House. To book tickets (cost £25) click here |
| October | 26th-28th Sussex | Visit: A trip to Brighton, Charleston and to see The Marriage of Figaro at Glyndebourne has been arranged with Tailored Travel – see below for details |
The Visits Team is delighted to be offering a number of confirmed trips, with more to be added:
Glyndebourne and Sussex
Monday 26th to Wednesday 28th October 2026 – an organised trip to Brighton, Charleston and to see Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne.
To book your place, please download the brochure, which contains the booking form for you to complete.
Please be aware that the deposit and booking form must be received by Monday 27th April in order to secure the opera tickets. Payment should be made by debit or credit card (no cheques). Details are on the booking form. The completed booking form can be put in the post, though we recommend that you also email tasovisits@gmail.com to let us know when you post it so we are aware of your booking, and can follow up if necessary.
If you wish, you can print off and complete the booking form, and bring it to the lecture on Wednesday 15th April.
The itinerary in brief:
- Leaving Oxford by coach on Monday morning, we will stop at Standen House, the Arts & Crafts house designed by Philip Webb, with interiors by Morris. After lunch there [not included] we travel on to Eastbourne, where we will stay in the 4* Hydrohotel for the next two nights. Dinner in the evening is included.
- On Tuesday morning we visit Brighton for a guided tour, including the Royal Pavilion, before we travel on to Glyndebourne for the 4pm performance of The Marriage of Figaro. After the performance we will have a two-course dinner at one of the restaurants there.
- On Wednesday morning we will visit the Towner Gallery, with its collection of works by Ravilious and other modern artists, and then go on to Charleston, the former home of Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and others. We get back to Oxford late afternoon/early evening.
Once the booking forms are sent to them, all further arrangements will be handled by Tailored Travel, a tour company that we have used before, notably for our successful trip to Sicily.
Rousham House, Heyford
Tuesday 19th May, 2pm – visit (self-drive) to Rousham House and its William Kent gardens. Two groups can be shown round at the same time, starting at different places in the House.
Rousham House is a delightful Jacobean Manor house in North Oxfordshire. The House, bought by Sir Robert Dormer in 1635, has remained in family hands since, despite going through a sticky patch in the Civil War (the family were royalists). It was re-modelled in 1738 by Sir William Kent, who added wings and a stable block. Further alterations were made by the Victorians. Kent also designed the glorious gardens, which remain very much as they were in the early 18th century and represent the first phase of English garden design.
To book tickets (cost £25) click here
Lydiard Park, Swindon
Wednesday 25th March all-day coach trip to Lydiard Park, including:
- a guided tour of St Mary’s Lydiard Tregoze, the 12C parish church. Led by Paul Gardner, Chair of Conservation Board, it will include the opening of the St John’s Triptych painted by William Larkin in 1615. The church has a fascinating history over many centuries. To read more click here
- a special opening of Lydiard House museum, a Palladian home, and time in the park and Walled Garden. To read more click here
- informal lunch in one of the two cafes at Lydiard Park, not included in the cost
Cost is £50, excluding lunch. The booking link opens on Monday 9th February at 10:00. Once it opens click here to book.
Sicilian Splendours
Monday 2nd March to Tuesday 10th March 2026 organised tour to Sicily. See front page of the brochure below. This tour is now fully booked.
Birmingham – Jewellery Quarter
On Wednesday October 8th we are offering a two-hour walking tour of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, led by Martin Haslett, a retired town planner and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, followed by lunch and a trip on the Birmingham canals.
Martin will meet us at The Bull, New St Station, Birmingham at 11.15 and we will take a tram to the starting point of the tour.
After a late lunch (though not included in the price, a booking will be made at a good cafe), we will have a one-hour trip on the Birmingham canals with Scott Brindley of Brindley Cruises, leaving at 3.30pm.
People should be able to walk comfortably for two hours.
Cost: £30 per person
Capacity: 15 – members only.
Members should make their own travel arrangements from Oxford, preferably on the Cross Country train. Note that the train from Oxford station at 09.39 arrives Birmingham New Street at 10.51; return trains leave at 17.03/17.34 arriving back in Oxford 18.15/18.37. Most Cross Country trains are very busy, so we suggest you book your train tickets well in advance.
To reserve a place click here
For more information about our organised visits, email us at tasovisits@gmail.com.
Best wishes
VISITS TEAM